CHILD Protection & Child Rights » IV.

National Mechanisms

Indian Constitution

The first step to fulfil the rights of children can be found in the ​Constitution of India​.
There are a number of articles that address various needs of children as outlined below.
The articles are divided into two categories: Fundamental Rights and Directive
Principles of State Policy. Fundamental Rights are justifiable in a court of law and are
negatives that prohibit the states from doing thing. The courts are bound to declare a
law as invalid if it violates a fundamental right. Directive principles are positive
suggestions for states, and are not justifiable in a court of law.

Fundamental Rights

● Article 14- The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or
the equal protection of laws with in the territory of India.
● Article 15- The State shall not discriminate against any citizen..Nothing in
this Article shall prevent the State from making any special provisions for
women and children.
● Article 21-No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except
according to procedure established by law.
● Article 21 A-The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all
children of the age of 6-14 years in such manner as the State may, by law,
determine.
● Article 23-Traffic in human beings and beggary and other forms of forced
labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an
offence punishable in accordance with the law.
● Article 24-No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in
any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
● The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act was notified on 13th December
2002, making free and compulsory education a Fundamental Right for all
children in the age group of 6-14 years.

Directive Principles

● Article 39(e) and (f) provides that the State shall, in particular, direct its
policy towards securing to "ensure that the health and strength of workers,
men and women and the tender age of children are not abused" and "that
the citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations
unsuited to their age or strength" and that "the children are given
opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions
of freedom and dignity" and that the childhood and youth are protected
against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
● Article 45- The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and
education for all children until they complete the age of six years.
● Article 47- The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the
standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as
among its primary duties
● Article 243G read with Schedule 11 - provide for institutionalization of child
care by seeking to entrust programmes of Women and Child Development to
Panchayat (Item 25 of Schedule 11), apart from education (item 17), family
welfare (item 25), health and sanitation (item 23) and other items with a
bearing on the welfare of children.

To access the complete Constitution in English and Hindi click here: ​Constitution of
India
Rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was the first instrument to incorporate the
complete range of international human rights— including civil, cultural, economic,
political and social rights as well as aspects of humanitarian law.

The articles of the Convention may be grouped into four categories of rights and a set of
guiding principles. By clicking on any of the categories below, you can link to a
plain-language explanation of the applicable articles in the Convention. Additional
provisions of the Convention (articles 43 to 54) discuss implementation measures for
the Convention, explaining how governments and international organizations like
UNICEF will work to ensure children are protected in their rights. You can see the full
text of the Convention by clicking on the link in the box on the right.

Guiding principles​ (pdf): The guiding principles of the Convention include

non-discrimination; adherence to the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival
and development; and the right to participate. They represent the underlying
requirements for any and all rights to be realized.

Survival and development rights​ (pdf): These are rights to the resources, skills and
contributions necessary for the survival and full development of the child. They include
rights to adequate food, shelter, clean water, formal education, primary health care,
leisure and recreation, cultural activities and information about their rights. These rights
require not only the existence of the means to fulfil the rights but also access to them.
Specific articles address the needs of child refugees, children with disabilities and
children of minority or indigenous groups.

Protection rights​ (pdf): These rights include protection from all forms of child abuse,
neglect, exploitation and cruelty, including the right to special protection in times of war
and protection from abuse in the criminal justice system.

Participation rights​ (pdf): Children are entitled to the freedom to express opinions and
to have a say in matters affecting their social, economic, religious, cultural and political
life. Participation rights include the right to express opinions and be heard, the right to
information and freedom of association. Engaging these rights as they mature helps
children bring about the realization of all their rights and prepares them for an active role
in society.

The equality and interconnection of rights are stressed in the Convention. In addition to
governments’ obligations, children and parents are responsible for respecting the rights
of others—particularly each other. Children’s understanding of rights will vary depending
on age and parents in particular should tailor the issues they discuss, the way in which
they answer questions and discipline methods to the age and maturity of the individual
child.

Human rights provisions

Children and young people have the same basic general human rights as adults and
also specific rights that recognise their special needs. Because the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC) brings together rights articulated in other international treaties
there are many parallels between the Convention and other treaties.

The five other core human rights instruments are: the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Torture Convention); the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Race Discrimination
Convention); and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (Women’s Convention). Among other rights found in the Convention on
the Rights of the Child and shared with one or more of these instruments are:

Non-discrimination (Article 2): All human rights instruments prohibit any

discrimination—distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference—in the provision,
protection and promotion of rights. In other words, everyone has the human rights in
these treaties, irrespective of their race, sex, religion, national origin or any other trait.
The Race Convention wholly prohibits discrimination based on race, national origin or
ethnicity and outlines steps that governments must take to end it. The Women’s
Convention likewise calls for an end to discrimination, based on sex, and outlines
specific areas of life in which women must be treated equally in order to eliminate
discrimination;

▪ Right to life (Article 6): also found in Article 6 of the ICCPR;

▪ Right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 37):
outlined for everyone in the Torture Convention and also included as Article 7 of the
ICCPR;
▪ Right of detained persons to be treated with dignity (Article 37): Article 10 of the
ICCPR broadly states this right and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
specifies that children in this situation must be treated in a way that takes their age
into account;
▪ Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 14): found in Article 18
of the ICCPR;
▪ Right to freedom of opinion and of expression (Article 13): found in Article 19 of the
ICCPR;
▪ Right to adequate standard of living (Article 27): found in article 11 of the ICESCR;
▪ Right to health and health services (Article 24): found in Article 12 of the ICESCR;
and
▪ Right to education (Article 28): found in Article 13 of the ICESCR.
Many Articles of both the ICCPR and the ICESCR call attention to the special needs of
families and children. These include Article 24 of the ICCPR (calling for the protection
of children and registration at birth of their name and nationality) and Article 10 of the
ICESCR (calling for specific attention, protection and assistance to children).

These examples show that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is founded on
rights inherent to everyone, but that it also builds on concerns for the specific needs and
vulnerabilities of children. For the text of any of the human rights conventions, see the
box at right.